It didnt matter. Even without a second look, he knew that the petite woman packed some serious curves into her small frame. Curves his hands itched to touch. He knew that her hair fell in chocolate-brown ribbons to her waist, making him imagine how it would look spread out over the white sheets on his hotel room bed.
He knew that her skin, smooth and pale, was laced with colorful ink, like all of her sisters. And he knew that every time they were in the same room, the sparks between them threatened to erupt into full flame.
Meg Marchande.
Without consciously thinking about it, he started moving, closing the space between them, irritated at the people in his way keeping him from her. When he was still a few feet away, the crowd parted slightly, and he found her again.
He knew he was staring, but he couldnt tear his eyes away. Shed chosen to display her curvy body in a thin white T-shirt dress that was low in the neck and high on the thigh. Shed paired it with a pair of black heeled boots that extended up over her knees, the look effortless, though he knew that, as a woman who appreciated fashion, she would have chosen her outfit carefully, conscious of the image that she wanted to project.
He could only assume that shed wanted her clothing to scream sex, and, oh, had it ever worked.
He tried, really he did, not to let his gaze linger on the delicious cleavage rising out of her neckline, or on the creamy expanse of thigh that made him think of what those legs would look like wrapped around his waist.
She shifted, the already-short hemline riding up even higher, and he lost the battle. It wasnt the first time, eitherin the month since hed met her, hed had a very hard time fighting his attraction for the petite brunette.
In another world, fighting it wouldnt have even been an option. That first day theyd met, when hed gone to the Marchandes home to convince Jo to take a job, the spark had been immediate. There shed sat, surrounded by her sisters, and the only one hed seen was her. And if theyd gone for it right then, it probably would have been okay. But now?
Now he and Theo were friends. He and Jo were friends. The Marchandes were a package deal, their mother and Theo included. And that meant that starting anything up with Meg, even a fling, was...well, complicated.
Meg was like a sister to Theo, and wasnt that an unwritten rule in the bro code? Sisters were hands-off. Sisters were especially hands-off when he was only going to be here for one more week.
That didnt stop him from thinking about what it would feel like to wrap a hand in those long, loose waves, tugging gently until she gasped.
His cock, which had only paid the barest minimum of attention to the waitress, was fully on board with this new plan. It didnt help his restraint. Nor did the flare of emerald green jealousy when the man who Meg had been speaking toflirting withmoved in behind her, placing his hands on her hips and tugging her back against him.
He didnt like it. He didnt like it at all, even as he reminded himself that she had the right to dance with whomever she wanted. She could flirt with whomever she wanted, and she could sleep with whomever she wanted.
None of that, however, meant that he couldnt throw his hat in the ring.
Looking across the bar, he saw the table where Jo and Theo still sat, wrapped around each other like ribbons on a maypole. John knew Jo well enough to understand that she would just shrug and say it was Megs choice, but Theo would string him up and flay him alive and enjoy doing it. He didnt want to risk the first real friendship hed had in...ever.
Theo would probably come around if he knew that John liked Meg, on top of wanting to screw her brains out. That was part of the problem, though... No matter how much he liked Meg, it could never be anything more than sex.
He didnt do connections with other people. It was something of a personal rule, and he wasnt some naive idiot who needed to lie down on a therapists couch to figure out whyhe avoided relationships of all kinds because when you cared about people, they could hurt you. This had been his truth since before he could remember, and hitting the streets at age thirteen had locked it in.
Theo and his friendship had sneaked past Johns barriers, but after careful examination, John had decided that he could handle any potential fallout. Same with Jo.
What he felt for Meg, though? That was something best left unexplored, which was why hed spent the past few months trying to ignore it.
Right now, watching the sway of her hips as she danced? As the primal urge to fight his competition for her thickened in his blood? Combined with the fact that he admired her, liked her?
Hed honed his self-control in iron for his whole life, but he was still only a man, and he wanted her with every fiber in his being.
Before hed decided on a plan, he started toward them. He ignored the alarm that started shrieking in his head, warning him of the impending danger.
Hed built a very successful company that had made him very wealthy by going after what he wanted with laser focus.
And right now? Maybe he had an undiscovered masochistic streak that had him craving her company, even if he wasnt ever going to do anything about it. Yeah, he must, because he found himself walking straight toward her.
He couldnt have her, but the only thing he wanted was Meg.
CHAPTER TWO
IF THE MAN rocking his pelvis against her ass knew that Meg was going over her list of orders for the next day in her head while he got handsy, he probably wouldnt have been too thrilled. And it wasnt that he bored her or anythingshed quite enjoyed their flirtation, which had started after hed watched her down two shots in quick succession. He was hot, and she wasnt immune to the sensation of his hardening erection pressing against her from behind.
It was just that she had a lot going on these days. Her brain was full, and she was tired. Or wired. She couldnt tell anymore. Before shed opened her small catering company, others had told her how proud shed be, how nice it would feel to be her own boss and set her own hours. These things were true, but why hadnt anyone told her how freaking hard it was? In the past, at the catering company shed worked for since she was a teenager, there had always been someone high ranking to pass problems to.
Now? She was that high-ranking person. She was the end of the line. And while she was happy, it also meant that most of the time, there just werent enough hours in the day. Which sometimes led to multitasking...like working in her head while a hot guy tried to get into her pants.
Jo had all but dragged her out by the hair tonight, reminding her that after fighting so hard for her success, she should be enjoying it a bit, too. Meg knew her sister was right, but even two shots hadnt been enough to clear her head.
Behind her, she felt Aaronthat was his name, right?slide one of the hands resting on her hips down lower to toy with the hem of her short dress. The pads of his fingers were hard, the calloused skin of a man who worked with them for a living, and she liked the sensation of them scratching her skin. A thin ribbon of arousal spooled out in her belly, and she pressed back against him, making him groan.
Want to get out of here? he whispered against her ear. My place is only a block away.
She considered. Maybe some sweaty sex was just what she needed to clear her head. Aaron was hot, in a rough kind of wayhis nose had the crooked lines of a brawler, and the body beneath his no-nonsense jeans and T-shirt promised that she wouldnt be disappointed. She suspected that sex with him would be the samestraightforward, simple, a transaction that got them both off.
She could get down with that. She shifted in his arms so that she could reply in the affirmative, but as she did she found her gaze drawn toward the long, sticky surface of the bar. Gaze awareness, she thought it was calledthat weird thing that happened when you sensed someone looking at you.
She wasnt wrong. Someone was indeed looking at her, and when she saw him, she knew she wouldnt be going home with Aaron tonight, or any other night.
Keeping one eye on her new admirer, she turned in Aarons arms, smiling up at him ruefully. Not tonight, but thanks for the dance.
He furrowed his brow momentarily, and Meg felt herself tense. Some mennot all men, but somedidnt understand that a dance wasnt a promise, that accepting the offer of a drink, or a flirtatious conversation, or the choice of a short skirt and high boots wasnt a contract promising that theyd get their rocks off.
Aaron, however, shrugged good-naturedly after a moment of disappointment and took off into the crowd, in search of a woman who would take him up on that offer of simple sex. Meg exhaled a sigh of relief before turning back to where the other man still watched her, a slight smirk turning up the corners of his mouth.
See something you like? she asked with more than a hint of sarcasm as she approached him, signaling for the bartender. She didnt expect him to answer, because they both knew the truththeyd been hot for each other since the moment theyd met, but their moment had passed. Shed been sprinting forward with the opening of A Moveable Feast, managing a million details, but she still would have made the time for what she just knew would be toe-curling sex. Hed pulled back, though, just a bit, immersing himself in his role at Theos dating-app company, and the heat between them had turned itself down to a manageable simmer. Especially when Theo had made sure to take her aside and explain, in no uncertain terms, that while John was a great option for casual sex, he didnt evereverdo more than that. And also that if John went anywhere near her, Theo would go after his testicles with Jos manicure scissors.
Meg had rolled her eyes, informed him that her tomboy sister didnt own any of those and then punched him in the gut. Hed doubled over, wheezing, but shed made her pointshe made decisions about her own life. No one else.
However, when it came to sex, both parties had to agree, and since she suspected that Theo had given John that same dont touch my sister chat, she was pretty sure that he no longer viewed her as a potential partner for sexual escapades.
It was just her luck that shed run into him when she was keyed up from dancing with Aaron and had sex on the brain. It made it harder to ignore that knee-jerk punch of attraction.
Accepting the icy bottle of beer from the bartender, she took a long swallow, letting the crisp liquid cool her off. Thus fortified, she turned to face him, let herself take him in.
She was attracted to him, but she wasnt so naive as to think that she was the only one. Shed have had to be blind not to appreciate the sheer perfection of his face. Shed grown up next door to Theo, who, while shed sure never seen him that way, turned plenty of heads with that whole Latin lover thing he had going on. Shed dated men who were nice to look at, but John was just ridiculously good-looking. His skin was a smooth medium brown, and next to it his pale eyeswhich were, of course, fringed with lashes long enough to make a woman weepwere impossible not to focus on. He kept his ebony hair buzzed down close to his head, letting the lean planes of his face take center stage, and his body was a continuation on the themethe man obviously logged some serious gym time, because, well, damn.
It didnt surprise her that half the women in Boston had reportedly dropped their panties the second hed arrived in town.
Dammit. He caught her looking, and that smug little half smile deepened, making her stomach do a little flip.
Down, girl. This wasnt going to happen. Hed flirted with her when theyd first met, but Theo had put any attraction John felt on ice. And she could deal. Hell, theyd had dinner together a week ago, and shed kept her horniness in check just fine. Of course, there had been six other people at that dinner, and she hadnt been wearing next to nothing with sex on the brain.
Hey! Meg protested as John stole the beer right out of her hand, though nerves danced in her skin where his hand brushed hers. Give that back!
You asked if I saw something I liked, he replied innocently before taking a long sip of her drink. She couldnt tear her stare away from the muscles working in his throat as he swallowed.
Handing the beer back to her, he kept his fingers on the bottle even after shed taken it. Her pulse skittered even as she rolled her eyes. It was because she was already slightly aroused from dancing with Aaron. It was absolutely not because her admiration of John had grown into a full-fledged crush.
Yes, because obviously I was referring to the beer. Even though she wanted to prolong the contact, she tugged at the beer until he released it, though when she pressed her lips to it, she could have sworn that she could taste him on the glass.
He sees you as a sister now, Meg. Deal!
If only he didnt make her mouth water when he fixed her with that stare.
I wasnt sure you were going to notice me. You were...occupied. John waved an arm toward where shed been dancing with Aaron. Though his tone was teasing, she thought she saw a flash of...well, of something in his eyes. Surely that wasnt jealousy. No, definitely not.
He could have literally any woman in this barsexy, sweet, thick, thin. And he was not the kind of man to get jealous over her dancing with another man, no matter the chemistry between them. And she was absolutely not disappointed by that. Nope. Not her.
Wasnt feeling it, she replied, which was only half a lieshed been feeling it, at least a little bit, until shed seen John.
Maybe she should wade back into the crowd and find Aaron, take him up on his offer. The longer she stood there, looking at what she couldnt have, the friskier she felt.
Good. Her gaze snapped to him, shocked. You can do better.
Excuse me? She blinked, not sure what to make of his words. Why, because he wasnt wearing a suit? Maybe what I want is a guy who works with his body. Not that its any of your business.
Not what I meant, kitten. He seemed more amused by her attitude than anything, which only irritated her further.
What did you mean, then? Chugging the rest of her drink, she signaled the bartender for another. And what the hell kind of nickname is kitten?
Taking the empty bottle from her, he set it out of the way and stepped into her personal space so quickly that she barely had time to blink. With only a thin ribbon of space between them, she could feel the heat emanating off his body, could smell his cologne, something that probably cost more than she made in a month, but that made her want to take a bite out of him.